The Half Demon Toddlers ReWritten!
by HyperFoxChild
Summary: By mere chance, the gang have suddenly become babysitters of three adorable toddlers. Three HALF-DEMON toddlers. Antics abound and mischief runs free as these three slowly worm their way into everyone's heart. Wait, did she just call him, Daddy? Re-write.
1. Prologue

So here it is. The beginning of the re-written version of The Half-Demon Toddlers. I think you will all agree this is much improved!

Please read, enjoy, and please please please tell me what you think of the new chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha in any form. If I did...some things would definately be different.

Chapter One- Just Another Day of Travel

It was yet another beautiful day. Cotton candy clouds swept across a brilliant blue sky as a gentle breeze softly toyed with the leaves on the trees, casting a myriad of shadows against the ground. Truly, this was a day to simply smile and enjoy the sheer wonder of life. Philosophers debated while children laughed, crops reached towards the heavens as rivers danced across the land.

"Can we PLEASE take a rest?" Kagome wheezed, pushing a battered pink bike to the top of an especially steep hill. It had been a long day so far. The breeze kept sending her hair in crazy currents around her head and thanks to a certain hanyou who kept stealing her hair ties (though heaven forbid he'd admit it) and then breaking them (probably because his hair was so full and thick and long and freaking _perfect_ even with its lack of maintenance) she could do nothing but deal with tornado hair as it continued to slap her in the face. On top of that, she'd bet anything that not a single inch of her body escaped the vicious sunburn she was sure would pop up later and at this point she'd rather exchange make-up tips with Naraku and have tea parties than take another step forward.

"No! We took a rest a few hours ago! We have to keep searching for jewel shards before Naraku completes the whole thing!" InuYasha scowled back at the wearied Kagome, who in return, pouted with her arms crossed in front of her; and whose glare continued to give a whole new meaning to the phrase: "If looks could kill". InuYasha hoped no one else noticed his wince of fear, nor the fact that he quickly sped up, hoping to either: escape Kagome's visual range, or allow one of the other members of the group to calm her down.

"Calm down InuYasha, I think a rest would do us all some good." Miroku, once again slipping into his role as mediator of the group, said as snuck up next to Sango. "I doubt a single break would cause that much harm. Besides, unlike you, some of us don't have demon blood in our veins and we tend to tire out faster."

It was silent for a moment before a familiar scream and thud echoed betwixt the travelers.

"What was that for?" Miroku whined as he rubbed his, now quite red, cheek.

"I told you not to touch me there!" Sango screeched at the monk, as he played the best innocent face he could with a vibrant handprint glowing against his face.

"Oh boy, here we go again." muttered Shippo from his rather comfy (and strategically safe) perch atop Kagome's shoulder.

"I don't see how those two can have so much energy." Kagome muttered to herself, giving the bike another half-hearted push forward. "It's too hot for this." The bike seemed to rattle and creak in agreement as it was pushed further along, the sounds of Sango's punishment echoing behind them.

"Are you sure we should just leave him to the wrath of Sango?" Shippo asked as he peeked behind them at the near daily scene from Kagome's shoulder.

"The monk keeps asking for it. Eventually he'll learn." InuYasha replied as he turned around and joined up with Kagome, who had continued walking ahead once she was (mostly) certain Sango wouldn't murder the perverted monk.

"Besides, I think maybe that's Sango's way of showing affection." Kagome stated glancing at InuYasha once he caught up to her. "She's flustered, but instead of blushing, she simply bashes Miroku's head in." She shrugged. "Besides, being groped is not among a woman's top ten most romantic things."

Shippo glanced back at the prostrate form of the unconscious monk lying in the middle of the road. He felt a shiver of fear race up his little spine. "If that's how Sango shows affection, then I REALLY wouldn't want to get on her bad side!" The young fox stole a pointed glance at the giant boomerang the demon exterminator always carried with her.

"Can you guys walk ANY slower!" InuYasha whined from the front of the group, clearly impatient.

"Why yes. Yes I can." Kagome sassed back, her stride instantly slowing down to an exaggerated crawl. Sango giggled as she helped the comatose monk on Kilala's back while Shippo flat out laughed at InuYasha's string of cussing, threats, and curses.

"Sorry InuYasha." Sango continued to giggle, jogging to catch up with Kagome. "Pain that Miroku is, we couldn't just leave him behind you know!"

"..." InuYasha was distracted at the thought of the journey without the lecherous monk's company. It would be nice to be able to simply travel and not worry about half his sentences being turned into sexual innuendos ("That's what she said" jokes having become Miroku's favorite form of entertainment recently). Being able to walk into a village without worrying about the headmaster and every father in the small town chasing them out with pitchforks and yelling threats against certain members in the group of the monk variety and what they'd do if said monk even so much as thought about any of the villagers of the female variety in any way. But then again, perverted or not, Miroku also got them lodging on several occasions (maybe not in the most ethical way, but hey, free room and food).

So the group continued on their never ending trek onward to who knows where. Shippo was happily snacking on some sweets he had found, as InuYasha continued yelling impatiently at everyone to hurry up. Kagome effectively ignored the irate hanyou as she told Shippo stories about the future, while Sango stayed as far away from Miroku as possible. Miroku...was still unconscious, unceremoniously thrown across Kilala's back. InuYasha finally gave in and let Kagome hitch a ride on his back while he took a turn pushing her bike she insisted on bringing after she threatened to sit him so far he could say hi to Satan for her.

Things were progressing normally and as Kagome continued to talk about ice cream and her sudden craving for the frozen treat and who she would be willing to kill if she could just have some right this instant, InuYasha resigned himself to another day with no new jewel shard.

Until Kagome abruptly stopped talking mid-sentence and jerked her head to his right, her whole body suddenly tensing up for almost no reason whatsoever. The only things that produced such a reaction out of her were the sudden reminder of a test she had forgotten, or…

"What is it? Do you sense a jewel shard?" InuYasha asked almost desperately, unable to disguise the small note of hope in his voice.

"What makes you say that?" Kagome demanded, now fixing her gaze on the dog demon as she slid off his back and took her bike back from him.

"Well...every time you sense a shard you get this weird look in your eyes. Like you're dazing out or you're possessed or something along those lines."

The clearing was quiet, but Kagome's aura was anything but quiet.

Raging, possibly. Fiery inferno. Instant death. Something like that. Shippo quickly abandoned his perch and clambered up onto Sango's shoulder to escape the soon-to-be war zone.

"And what, exactly, is it you are trying to say?" The sentence came out as barely more than a whisper. But the killing intent behind it was obviously there.

To everyone, that is, except InuYasha.

"Well your eyes kind of glaze over and are all unfocused and, well...you just look weird."

Kagome took a deep breath.

It then (finally) clicks in the poor hanyou's mind that a pissed off Kagome is also a very "sit"-happy Kagome.

"Oh sh-" InuYasha tried to apologize as fast as he could before the inevitable came.

"SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT!"

…Why hello dirt…how have YOU been recently? Me? Oh, I've been so-so…right now I'm just wondering if my spine is in place that's all…nothing unusual.

After mumbling a few...choice words... InuYasha was finally able to stumble out of the pit he had created and get back to what was really important.

"So what did you sense Lady Kagome?" Miroku asked, causing everyone to give a small start, having no idea he was even awake yet. (He had actually woken up a while ago, but seeing as how Sango wasn't going to be coming near him any time soon so he could try his patented "pretend-to-be-knocked-out" trick to sneak another grope, he had given up on that and finally "came to").

"How long have you been awake?" Sango shouted, stalking towards the monk.

"Just now, Sango dearest, I swear!"

Shippo sighed. "Idiots."

Please review! :puppy eyes:


	2. The Meeting

And here's the re-written second chapter! Yay! So...no-one reviewed the first chapter...at all...gah you guys suck. I'm trying to pelt these out as fast as I can so I can pick up where I left off. But dude, two chapters in two days, I dont' think that's too bad. =)

Again, I am really happy with how this turned out, and I do believe the last scene is a huge improvement. I pretty much scratched out the entire ending and re-wrote the whole thing. This was hard to type though, because my pet rabbit kept trying to crawl in my lap while I was typing and kept tugging on my pants and shirt to get my attention while I was sitting on the bed with her. Had to move to the floor to get some peace. She still would sometimes crawl to the edge of the bed and glare at me. Stubborn bunny.

I hope you enjoy this next chapter. And please _review_ this time guys.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own InuYasha, but all characters you don't recognize are MINE! Get your own.

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"Well, it's rather…odd." Kagome seemed at a loss as she tried to think of a way to accurately portray the vibe she was sensing. Flustered hands tugged at the red sailor knot on her uniform as she thought. "It…feels like a jewel shard. But it keeps, fluctuating almost." Everyone continued to stare at her with blank looks on their faces, obviously not quite understanding.

InuYasha was not known for his patience, and this was no exception. One foot restlessly tapped the ground as he waited for Kagome to hurry up and point him in the direction of the shard. And her pointless murmurings were starting to annoy him. "Seriously Kagome? How hard can it be? Is it a shard or is it not one?" he barked out, his tone harsh.

Kagome's hair whipped around her as she rapidly turned around to glare at him before quickly spouting out the subjugation spell. At the solid thud of InuYasha meeting the ground, she stomped over and gave his side a kick.

"This is hard enough to figure out without you yelling at me! Jerk!" Spinning around with a huff, she continued her explanation. "Sometimes it feels so weak I can barely sense it, and then it suddenly expands and feels huge! So I can't decide if it's a single shard or if there are several because it keeps changing, almost into a dome shape." Her hands waving about as she attempted to illustrate what she was sensing since words seemed to fail her.

"That's stupid!" InuYasha yelled as he finally pulled himself out of the hole he had made, rubbing his side where Kagome had kicked him. "Are you going crazy or something?"

Kagome's head snapped around faster than most people would believe humanly possible as she gifted InuYasha with a glare Naraku would have been proud of. "InuYaaaaasha…" she said in a voice promising great pain.

"Eep..."

"I think that, just maybe, I could have an idea what Lady Kagome might be sensing..." Miroku quickly stated, probably saving InuYasha from a broken back.

"What?" Everyone asked the monk, who was standing there thinking thoughtfully, and ever so slowly inching towards Sango...

"CAN'T YOU EVER BE SERIOUS?" Sango screeched at the monk, as he lay sprawled on the ground after her powerful slap, thankfully still conscious. "And what makes you so sure _you_ know!"

"Well I am a monk, in case you forgot, so I do have some knowledge on these sorts of things." Miroku cleared his throat (while ignoring the familiar throbbing pain in his skull) before continuing on. "Maybe what Lady Kagome is sensing is a barrier that is drawing some of its power from a sacred jewel shard. Therefore, it could be "fluctuating" because at one point, the barrier is only using a small portion of the jewel's power, hence Kagome barely sensing it. While at other times, it uses more of the jewel's power, thus increasing its power, making it easier for Kagome to see." The others nodded in understanding before Miroku continued on. "Of course, this is all just speculation; it could be something entirely different."

"Wow, I guess Miroku can be smart when he wants to." Shippo remarked, before he continued to dig through Kagome's bag for "sweets-on-a-stick".

"Well, what are we waiting for? There's a jewel shard out there! Let's go!" InuYasha bounded off through the forest, tearing through trees and branches as if they were nothing. The others stood back, watching him run off until they couldn't see him anymore.

"He doesn't know the way, does he?" Sango asked Kagome, who stood there with an evil grin on her face.

"Nope, he'll be back." She cheerfully remarked, then grabbed a textbook because, knowing InuYasha, it could be awhile before he admits that he was wrong and comes back for help, might as well get some work done. She glanced at the textbook cover before moaning in disgust. Oh goody, she just had to grab her geometry book, her favorite class…"

True to her word, about forty-five minutes a slightly embarrassed hanyou stomped back into the clearing where the rest of the group had been waiting.

"Got lost did we?" Miroku asked, unable to resist teasing the hanyou while staying back what he hoped was a safe distance.

"Shut up and let's go..." InuYasha mumbled. Deciding to cut him a break, the group headed in the direction Kagome pointed out without any further talk.

After running for an hour or so in a dense forest, Kagome informed everyone that they were closing in on the jewel shards, pointing out a barely visible dome against the sky up ahead.

"Finally." InuYasha muttered as a tree branch landed square in his face. Ripping the offending plant out of his way, they emerged from the woods and into an empty field.

The group was unprepared for what they saw. The area was like a barren wasteland. Not even a single blade of grass had been able to grow there. The barrier was near invisible, except for the slight pinkish tint dome in the sky. Inside though, was a sight that made the group, horror-stricken.

Blood.

Even after all the battles they had fought and enemies they had killed, the sight of this blood bath was still stomach churning. But what was especially disturbing, was the type of blood.

It was half-demon blood.

It seemed that the place had been the sight of a huge hanyou...well the only word that could describe it would be massacre. Bodies of half-demon men, women, and even some children lay strewn all over the desolate field. Blank eyes stared back at them with their lifeless gaze, some wide in terror; other's partially closed, as if in acceptance of their fate.

InuYasha screamed in anger before punching a large tree, splitting it in two. The group just watched in sympathy, while Miroku pulled out a few sutras and whispered a prayer for the poor, unfortunate souls, who had been murdered in cold blood there in that field, just because of what they were.

"Shouldn't we see if anyone is still alive?" Shippo asked clinging to the childish hope that someone had possibly survived, as he looked at the huge area the barrier covered.

Kagome was near tears as she grabbed Shippo and held him in her embrace, blocking the horrible view from him. "Shippo…I don't…" choking on her tears, she simply held him tighter.

Miroku glanced over at InuYasha, who, after his angry scream, had remained silent. The hanyou's knuckles were white from the pressure with which he was gripping his sword, and his face was pulled into a deep scowl, muscles angrily twitching underneath his skin. Miroku walked over to place a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder, but before he could, InuYasha whipped out Tetsusaiga. Everyone watched as the sword pulsed an angry red, before InuYasha swung it over his head and brought it down against the barrier with another shout of extreme anger. The barrier wavered for a moment before falling, hitting the group with the stench of dead flesh and decay that the barrier had held in.

And then there were screams.

Unknown to the group, the barrier had also kept in all sounds. And when it had been destroyed, the group heard things they had been unable to hear before. Without wasting another moment, they rushed in.

Kilala flew low over the ground, Kagome, Sango, and Shippo riding on top as Miroku ran across the ground. Miroku felt his lunch threaten to make a re-appearance as he felt the thick blood squish under his sandals and splatter against his robes. Kagome and Sango were on high alert while Kilala flew, looking for any survivors while trying not to get sick at the sights around them.

InuYasha raced ahead of the group, anger fueling his speed. His hands gripped the Tetsusaiga harder as he passed clumps of bodies, some recognizable, some mutilated beyond any point of recognition. There were scenes where it was obvious the hanyous had tried to fight back, or protect some of the youngsters, but they were all killed. Pushing down the bile in his throat, his ears searched out the source of the screams before they were abruptly silenced. Increasing his speed even more, he raced ahead of the others and headed towards a small clump of dead trees in front of him.

Finally reaching the trees, InuYasha slowed down and pushed his way through the dead, brittle, branches that stood in his way. With a final thrust, he was able to see into the clearing.

-Switch POV-

The young dragon demon stood, towering over his next victims. A smirk revealed rows of sharp teeth, pieces of flesh hanging out, still dripping with fresh blood. His cold, black eyes looked at his prey savoring the moment before his long, poison-oozing claws would sink into his victims flesh, and he would relish the drawn-out, agonizing scream that would follow as the poison in his claws would slowly suck the life out of his luckless victim. He smiled wider at the thought.

"Well, well, how sweet, still trying to protect the young ones I see?" the low voice grated. The dragon hissed as he leaned in closer to the wolf hanyou, who was trying to shield three toddlers from any more damage from the demon's claws. "They're not even your own, yet you still lay down your life to protect them…pathetic." The demon snorted, as he raised his claw to deliver the final blow to the already dying half-breed. The wolf hanyou hunkered over his three charges, trying to shield them as best as he could with his body. He looked over the three children, mere babies, in his arms. Small silver eyes watched back as the one child who was still conscious reached up to touch his face, her face wet with tears since she could no longer scream. The wolf tensed as he heard the wind whistle around the dragon's quickly descending claws, and prepared himself for the final blow.

There was a sudden crash, followed by a heavy thud as the demon was suddenly sent flying to the other side of the clearing. A heavy string of curses from a voice he didn't recognize and the hanyou tried his best to glance up, but found that the poison in his system had already paralyzed most of his body. The one child tried to peek out from under the protection of his body to see what was happening, but he used his head to nudge her back into the safety of his arms. Sounds began to fade in and out as he tried to focus on what was happening around him, but he could feel his body shutting down. It was too late for him he knew, but maybe there was still hope for the children. There was one final scream of anguish before all fell silent, and all the wounded wolf could do was hope the mystery assailant was an ally.

After disposing of the demon's body, by practically chopping the guy up into almost non-existent pieces just for the satisfaction of slicing the guy up, InuYasha grabbed a scrap a cloth to pick up the contaminated shard with and tucked it into his shirt for Kagome later. He then made his way back to the small group of hanyous. Kneeling by the man, he could already smell death beginning to settle over his scent, like a heavy cloak. He cursed, knowing he was already too late to do anything to save him. Laying his hand on the hunched figures shoulder, he felt the body tense under his fingers. The man's head slowly turned to look at him, and from the slow, jerking motion of the movement, InuYasha could tell that probably took a lot of his strength just to do that one small act. Piercing blue eyes looked him over, though by the way they were beginning to cloud over, InuYasha wasn't sure how much he actually saw.

A mirthless chuckle escaped the man's lips. "Thank you, friend."

InuYasha shrugged before admitting. "Not much good it did."

"I know I don't have…much time left. But I still thank you for de…destroying that beast." A gurgling sound escaped his throat as he starting hacking blood on the ground. InuYasha winced at the sight.

"We'll give you a proper burial." He promised. He wouldn't give the hanyou empty promises about getting better. They both know he didn't have much time left, but InuYasha could at least promise that.

The wolf's lips tilted in a crooked smile. "That is more than I ever hoped for in my life." Another coughing fit shook his weak frame, his body shaking from the strain.

"What's your name?"

"Y-Yasuo."

InuYasha reached over to try and help the man. "Is there anything else I can do?" He questioned.

Yasuo paused for a moment, before looking up again at InuYasha. "Please." He pleaded, the tremors increasing as he felt death nearing. "I know…we just met…but…they have no one else…" he grunted as he used the last of his energy to push himself over, his broken body collapsing against the ground. Three small toddlers were curled against the hard ground, cuts and bruises adorning their small bodies. One child looked at InuYasha with wide silver eyes, tears coursing down her cheeks. InuYasha merely stared in shock at the three, almost surprised that there had been anyone left alive. The small cat hanyou with the silver eyes soon turned to Yasuo and slowly pulled herself next to him.

"Yasuo…" she muttered, trying to pull herself up."You're hurt…we gotta…we gotta…make you better!" Her eyes turned to InuYasha as she pleaded with him. "Please mister…you gotta help him! Right Yasuo! Tell him you need help!" the young girl started getting frantic since nobody was moving and Yasuo was getting weaker and weaker.

"Sorry kiddo…I'm not…going to make it."

"No! No! You will! You…you can't leave us!" the girl shouted, banging her little fists against the ground, tears dripping off her cheeks. "You…you promised! Not you too! Not you too!" Sobs took over her screaming, so thick she could barely breathe. The demon winced before using the last of his energy to reach up and try to wipe her tears away.

"I…know. I'm…sorry I have to…break my promise." His eyes grew darker as his organs shut down. "I…love you all." He turned to InuYasha as tears slowly dripped down the wolf's face. "Watch…them…" And with one final, shuddering breath, his head hit the ground, his lifeless eyes turned towards the skies.

"Yasuo…Yasuo…YASUO!" the girl screamed, tears freely rolling down her face as she desperately tried to shake him awake. InuYasha leaned down and took the struggling girl into his arms, gently rocking her as his mother used to while she fought against him, her screams once again turning into heart-wrenching sobs. It wasn't long before she stopped thrashing and clutched at his robes, bawling into the fabric, before finally passing out from exhaustion.

Gently placing the exhausted girl on the ground, InuYasha shrugged off his robe of fire rat and wrapped the three toddlers in it, before standing up, cradling the bundle in his arms. All was silent as he stood over Yasuo's body, the wind ruffling the wolf's shaggy locks about.

InuYasha's mind was racing. Could he even do it? Take these small children in. Their quest was dangerous, and definitely not something you'd want to bring children along on. It was hard enough with Shippo, and he was at least old enough to sort of watch out for himself. They faced danger daily, stared death in the face on multiple occasions, and were fighting probably the most evil force in all of Japan. But he couldn't just leave them anywhere. They were hanyous. Most places would not welcome them, and quite possibly murder them the minute he turned his back.

A small sneeze caused him to look at the three toddlers in his arms. The small cat hanyou, eyes still puffy from crying; a dog hanyou, blood matted in her dark hair; and a small fox hanyou, nose scrunched up from her earlier sneeze as she slept on.

But they were so young and innocent and had nowhere to go. And they had no-one.

He squared his shoulders. He had been there. No home. No family. Nothing.

He wouldn't allow that on anyone else.

And when the rest of the group burst in, grimy from their earlier battle with a group of demons that had smelled the decay and had come attempting for a free meal, he still stood there with his back facing them. Kagome ran up to him to check for injuries and gasped at the dead wolf hanyou at his feet. She turned to ask InuYasha a question and noticed a bundle in his arms and a determined glint in his eyes.

"InuYasha?" she questioned, placing a gentle hand on his arm. He inclined his head towards her to show that he heard her. And as Miroku, Sango and the rest jogged over to where they were standing, she moved back some of the robe in his arms and revealed the faces of the three children. Everyone stared at the children in shock. Not knowing what to make of it.

"Miroku." InuYasha's voice snapped the monk out of his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"We need to dig a grave. I promised him a proper funeral."

Miroku solemnly nodded in understanding and began digging, the interruption snapping everyone out of their trance and reminding them of why they were there. Kagome gently took the bundle from her friend's arms and began doing her best to treat their injuries, while everyone else began to work on digging graves for everyone who had perished that day.

It was a long and grueling day, but finally everyone was buried. Miroku performed a quick service and set their souls to rest, sending up prayers and sealing the graves with sutras so no-one could come and contaminate the grave site. Kagome had patched up the girls as best as she could for the moment and they wearily trudged off, looking for a place to rest for the night. InuYasha had disappeared right after all the graves were finished, but she knew he just needed time to think and he would eventually come back. He'd probably be back to his same rude self.

As they walked away, none of them could have guessed just how much their life had been changed in that one day.

Seriously

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Now don't you admit that's like...150 percent better? Nothing new to add here, just...

Review please!

_Pleeeeeeease?_ =)


	3. Awakening

Yay! Chapter 3 is re-written and up! I had a really hard time re-writing this...especially the end. Of course I might have just gotten lazy, that's always possible. I'm not as happy with this chapter as with the other two, but at least it's better then before. I hope everyone likes the new chapter, and don't forget to review! Oh, and speaking of reviewing...

GodOfFlame101: Thank you so much for your review, it easily made my week! And the line break function? So much easier, thanks a million! I'm glad you like the new re-written version, I personally feel that it is a lot better, but it really helps hearing that from someone else. =) I really hope you continue to enjoy.

Lady Lulu: Aw, thanks so much for taking the time to review my story! Unfortunately, I noticed you seem to be having a little trouble with your review, so I figured you wouldn't mind if I helped out! First off, you really should capitalize the first letter of your sentence. Also, there is no such word as "noone" unless you're trying to make up new words to rhyme with "moon". I assume you were trying to say "no-one" or "no one" because those are actually words in the English language. Also, the phrase is not "your gay" it would be "you're gay" or "you are gay". Saying "your gay" seems to imply that I own 'gay' and honestly, I'm not entirely sure if that is possible, of course you could be trying to prove me wrong, how would I know? In your second sentence you seem to have forgotten a verb, making your entire sentence just sound a little silly. Finally, you are supposed to end your sentences with a period. I hope you don't mind me correcting your review. But the grammar was so atrociously horrific that it was rather hard to understand. I really hope my quick explanation didn't fly over your head, I'm not sure if they have taught any of these things in your fourth grade English class yet, so I hope I didn't confuse you at all. Hope to see you in the next chapter dearie! =)

Of course I don't own InuYasha nor do I make any money off of it. I just enjoy forcing them to bend to my will. But Krystal, Tsoki, and Random are mine, no stealing!

* * *

A brisk wind whipped in between the branches of the trees overhead, causing them to creak and groan in protest as they rubbed against each other. Overhead limbs framed the night sky above, while the light from the dying campfire brought the shadows to life. With a small whimper, the fox kit hunkered deeper into Kilala's fur, afraid to go back to sleep. Everyone else was already in dreamland, exhausted from the strenuous day. After taking care of the three newest additions to the group, Kagome wrapped them up in her sleeping bag before grabbing a blanket from her backpack and crashing beside them. Sango was propped up against her faithful companion, Kilala, as Miroku also bunked down for the night on the other side of the fire. InuYasha had yet to return, but he was probably keeping watch somewhere in the trees overhead.

Shippo bit back another whimper at an especially loud moan from the trees around him. Snippets of his nightmare flashed across his mind, making it almost impossible to calm his racing heart.

He had been alone in the middle of a field, picking daisies for Kagome, basking in the warm sunlight. Suddenly everything shifted and he was standing in the clearing from earlier. The slaughtered hanyous seemed to stretch out before him for forever, the thick smell of their blood clogging up his nose and making his head spin. No one answered his desperate cries as he ran, looking for a way out of the horrific scene. The blood was everywhere. Blank faces stared at him; empty, soul-less eyes watching his every move.

Then the faces suddenly morphed into the people he knew, those he considered his family.

It was at this point that he woke up, quickly biting back a scream at the last minute. Relieved that it had all just been a dream, he tried to drop back to sleep, but sleep proved elusive as every sound of the forest made him jump in fear.

Rubbing the back of his hand across his nose, the boy attempted to settle back down on Kilala's fur, trying his best not to wake anyone after the long day they had been through.

"Shippo?" the kit slightly jumped at the voice, before a small head sheepishly peeked over Kilala's side. Kagome was sitting up by her sleeping bag, trying to rub the sleep out of her eye while fighting back a yawn. "What's wrong?" her voice was groggy with sleep, as she glanced over at Shippo, who was fighting back tears.

In a moment he was by her side, crying while she cradled him in her arms, stroking his hair and whispering soothing words in his ear. In between broken sobs, he told her about his nightmare and his fears of waking up and finding out it had actually happened. Kagome continued to softly rock the child and tell him gentle assurances until his hiccupping crying slowly melted into soft snores.

Kagome continued to sit there, even after Shippo had finally fallen asleep, obviously deep in thought. Sometimes, amongst all the blood and fighting, she forgot how young Shippo really was, his quirky attitude and silly antics distracting her from the matter. To be so young but to have seen so much already, her heart went out to the child in her arms. In this time of war and unrest, childhood innocence was easily lost. A slight rustling to her right snapped the teen out of her thoughts, as the smallest hanyou child tossed a bit. Her face was twisted in fear, obviously caught in some sort of nightmare also. Reaching over, Kagome gently stroke the cat's hair, humming a lullaby her mother used to sing when she was young and had nightmares. The child finally stilled with a soft sigh, before shifting into a more comfortable position.

Yes. Childhood innocence was far too easily lost.

* * *

Morning dawned bright and beautiful over the camp, attempting to rouse its slumbering occupants from their dreams. With a rather un-lady like grunt, Sango slowly sat up and stretched. Satisfied after several loud cracks and pops that echoed from her back she stood and began the 'oh-so-pleasant' job of waking the rest of the camp.

Approaching the lump of blankets known as Kagome, the demon slayer knelt down and gently tried to shake her friend awake.

"Kagome-chan! It's time to get up." The lump shifted a little, before issuing a low moan.

"Don't wannaaaaaaa. Tell school…got…jungle…fever, mamma." Sango continued with her persistent prodding until Kagome finally sat up, her hair in wild disarray. Laughing, the slayer merely handed the half-asleep schoolgirl her hairbrush before moving on to the monk. Kagome's grumbling could still be heard on the other side of the camp as she attempted to tackle a particularly stubborn knot.

The monk's wake-up call was much more violent.

"Up and at 'em pervert." Jarring the monk's body with her foot as she shoved him over, Miroku squeaked when his body met the hard forest floor.

"Ah, good morning to you also, Sango dearest." A twitch of his nose and a cloud of dust erupted into his face as he sneezed. Quickly sitting up, Miroku began coughing as his body attempted to rid his lungs of the unwanted dirt.

Finally taming the wild mass of hair atop her head, Kagome began to check over the three children still asleep in her sleeping bag. Thankfully, they seemed to be doing better than yesterday. Their wounds still needed to be wrapped, but Kagome figured they would be good as new within a week or so. With the help of Sango, the girls were able to quickly change the toddler's bandages, settle them back into the sleeping bag, and start some ramen by the time InuYasha arrived back at the camp.

Walking into the clearing, InuYasha followed his nose straight to the campfire where Kagome had some ramen ready for the hungry hanyou.

"Welcome back, friend." Miroku greeted, sitting across from InuYasha and accepting his own cup of ramen. "We were beginning to wonder where you had gotten to." Miroku scowled when he sipped the broth too soon and burned his tongue, blowing across the top to attempt to cool the scalding liquid off some. InuYasha grunted as he continued to devour his noodles, seemingly impervious to the temperature. Finishing the last of the broth with flourish and a burp, InuYasha reached over for his second cup.

"Scouting the area, everything seems pretty quiet for now, but we need to pack up soon and head out, maybe we can find a rumor of Naraku by nightfall."

"InuYasha, we can't leave right now! These little guys are hurt; we shouldn't be moving them around yet!"

"We can't sit around here all day! Every day Naraku finds more of the sacred jewel shards! We can't afford to wait around, it's bad enough having to stop for you school, we don't need another distraction!" Waving his chopsticks in the air for emphasis, InuYasha attempted to glare the schoolgirl down.

Recognizing the beginnings of a fight, Miroku and Sango stood and begin to prepare camp for an extended stay. Miroku left to gather some wood and water, Shippo hanging off his shoulder with a mischievous grin as he watched Kagome and InuYasha bicker. Sango checked on the toddlers again, shaking her head in amusement at the shouted command and familiar thud behind her. Kagome stomped over to the slayer, muttering dark things under her breath as she dug through her overstuffed bag. With a huff she whipped out a schoolbook and began to work through it, sending a dark glare to a certain hanyou whenever he tried to start up an argument again.

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, InuYasha finally giving up trying to convince anyone to continue on when it became obvious Kagome was set in her decision. Shippo practiced his fox illusions while Miroku and InuYasha discussed strategies and thoughts on their next course of action. The schoolgirl attempted to catch up on some work she was extremely behind in, while Sango trained with Kilala. The girls occasionally checked on the toddlers, changing bandages and such, but the three children continued to sleep on, oblivious to the world around them.

Day slowly slipped into night, the darkness settling over the land like a blanket. The group enjoyed a quick dinner of rabbit that InuYasha caught, everyone laughing as they exchanged stories. In the middle of an epic re-telling of a prank Kagome and her younger brother, Souta, had pulled on their poor, senile grandfather (complete with hand motions and energetic re-enactments), Kilala slipped away from the group and trotted over to Kagome's sleeping bag, investigating a slight rustling that had caught her attention.

A silver eye peeked out from the mass of blanket, widening in surprise at Kilala's gaze. The cat hanyou slowly sat up, nervously watching the neko demon for any sudden movements. With a determined trot, Kilala walked over and gently nuzzled the scared child, her rumble vibrating throughout her small body. With a nervous tremble, the hanyou slowly reached around and stroked the kitten, giggling when the purring increased as she rubbed the demon's ear.

"Oh! You're awake!" Kilala bit back a growl when startled tiny claws accidently nicked her delicate ear, as their owner quickly whipped back in fear. Kilala glared at Kagome, flicking her ear in annoyance even after the miko apologized for startling the poor girl.

The entire group's attention was diverted to the small figure sitting up in the sleeping bag. The small cat hanyou nervously watched everyone, short silver hair shining in the light of the fire.

"Where…" the hanyou coughed as her dry throat protested her attempts at speaking. Swallowing a few times, she tried again. "Where am I? Who…who are you?"

"My name is Kagome. My friends and I found you passed out and severely injured, so we brought you here and patched you up." Kagome left out the part about the wolf hanyou, not really knowing what had happened since InuYasha had not told anyone. "This here is Miroku, he's a monk."

"Lovely to meet you."

"This is Sango, she's a demon slayer, but don't worry, she's our friend."

"Glad you seem to be feeling better."

"Hi! I'm Shippo!" The poor toddler nearly jumped out of her skin when Shippo popped beside her with a broad grin.

"Shippo! Don't scare the poor girl!" Kagome scolded the kitsune as he hopped into her lap.

"Sorry." The lad muttered, properly rebuked.

"It's…okay. He just…startled me." The girl murmured, still looking partially traumatized. She received a cheeky grin from the kit in return. It was obvious she did not feel comfortable surrounded by so many people by the slight tremors that racked her small frame. Kagome wanted to just sweep her up in her arms and comfort her, but whenever she made any attempts to move closer, the hanyou flinched, ears flat against her head as the shaking increased. Knowing it was pointless to try and push physical contact, Kagome leaned against the nearby tree, not missing the way the toddler slightly relaxed as Kagome settled down.

"So, what's your name?" Shippo asked, still sitting in Kagome's lap as he curiously observed the child.

"Um…my name is...Random." the girl stated shyly, her large cat ears flicking forward as a slender tail of purest silver wrapped around her legs. A shuffling of noise to the right of the girl caught her attention as her head whipped around to inspect the newest threat.

InuYasha hopped down from the tree he had been resting in, landing in a crouch on the ground. Random jumped at the sudden intrusion, her eyes darting over his features, taking everything in as quickly as possible. Recognition dawned on her face as she remembered InuYasha from earlier. Noticeably relaxing after she acknowledged InuYasha's presence, she turned to the dog hanyou who laid curled against her side, the girl mumbling to herself as she seemed to struggle against the confines of sleep.

"WHAT THE HECK!" Everyone jumped as the girl shot straight up, her body tensed and ready for battle. This one was also a dog hanyou, complete with black ears and a black tail, both with red tips on the ends. Long black hair streaked with a deep red flowed down to her lower-back, while she looked around with angry red eyes. "You all have one minute to explain what the heck I'm doing here, before I pound you worthless humans into the ground!" For being so small (she was slightly taller than the other two hanyous) her glare was still very intimidating.

"Calm down, sis, everything is okay. They saved us!" Random said trying to calm her sister down. Having recognized InuYasha from when he saved Yasuo, she figured the group must be at least semi-trustworthy if he travelled with them.

"Whatever..." the girl plopped back down on the sleeping bag, obviously still tired.

"That's my younger sister, Tsoki." Random offered, apologetically.

"Wait, she's your younger sibling?" Miroku questioned, visibly sizing the two up. "She seems to be taller than you."

Random's face erupted into a bright shade of pink, reaching all the way up to the very tips of her feline ears. Her sister laughed at her sibling's embarrassment, obviously enjoying watching Random's face flush.

"I am taller than her." Tsoki stated, pointing over to the still blushing Random. "She's just short."

"Hey! Am not!"

"Prove it."

"..."

"Thought so…" Tsoki smirked, arms stretched out above her. "I win."

The two young children continued to bicker between each other while everyone else watched in amusement.

"It's almost hard to imagine they've suffered through so much." Kagome whispered to Sango, giggling when Tsoki began to pout at something Random had said. "How could anyone hurt such sweet children?"

"You have to remember, Kagome, not everyone is like you. To others, it doesn't matter how old or sweet they are. These three are hanyous. And that's all most people care about." Sango reminded the girl, silently laughing at the indignant look that crossed her best friend's face. She turned her attention back to the bickering siblings.

"-therefore I'm da supreme master and you have to listen to me." Finishing her little rant, Tsoki crossed her arms in defiance, looking quite smug.

"But I'm the oldest. That beats supreme master any day!" Random countered, obviously exasperated at her younger sister's ignorance. The two were so busy arguing, they didn't notice their sister slowly sit up and stretch, mouth stretched open in a tongue-curling yawn.

The young fox hanyou looked around the camp, her small fist trying to rub the last remnants of sleep out of deep blue eyes. Her red-orange tail swished back and forth, while her same colored fox ears twitched at every new sound. Long, light-blue hair fell to about mid-back, being pulled back in a messy, high ponytail so it wouldn't get in her way. She glanced around the campsite, until her eyes rested on Random sitting next to her. Face breaking out in a huge grin, she promptly glomped the girl, grinning at her sister's surprised squeak.

"WAN-WAN! I'm weally hungry! Can we eat now! Pwease!" At this the girl's stomach growled fairly loud. "My stomach said so!" While putting on the biggest puppy eyes Kagome had ever seen.

"Oh yeah, that's Krystal. She's three, Tsoki is four, and I'm five. If you don't mind, we are a little hungry." Random patted her stomach, as it also growled in hunger.

"Of course you guys can eat! In fact-" Kagome glanced over at InuYasha, before getting an evil glint in her eyes. "-we have about three Ramen packets left!"

"What! No way! Wench, you can't use the rest of the ramen!" InuYasha promptly exploded, not happy at having to give up the last of his favorite meal.

"InuYasha! Sit boy!" The toddlers stared wide-eyed as the irate hanyou promptly slammed back into the ground. Krystal giggled.

While Kagome was busy making the ramen, Krystal and Shippo snuck over to the hole InuYasha was currently buried in, Shippo helping the girl walk since she was still wrapped in several bandages.

"Is he dead?" Krystal questioned while poking InuYasha with a stick she found laying around.

"Nah, Kagome just sat him because she got mad." Shippo answered, also taking a stick and poking the grounded hanyou whose growls were quickly raising in volume.

"Wike a puppy?" Krystal added, another sharp jab of her stick, followed by more growling.

"Exactly!"

There was a pause in the conversation.

"…let's dump water on him…" Krystal said, breaking the silence.

"You and me are gonna be good friends." Shippo grinned as the two ran off with a bucket to the nearby hot springs, Krystal being surprisingly quick even with her injuries.

So Kagome served the kids the ramen, much to InuYasha's utter dismay. A very unhappy, wet InuYasha…the two kids had been successful in their endeavors and managed to dump an entire bucket of water on him as he was stuck on the ground. He would have pounded the brats into the ground as soon as he was able to move again, had Kagome not sat him once more. While the kids devoured their meal, Kagome tried to learn of what had happened in the field since InuYasha wouldn't say anything on the subject. She couldn't get much out of them. Tsoki refused to talk, Random seemed extremely sad, and Krystal played ignorant. The only things she could gather on the subject weren't very helpful in the least.

"Oh, that..."

"Why are you asking us? We're just stupid, pathetic hanyous aren't we? Why would we know anything! And why should we tell you stupid humans anyway!"

"Can I have some more Roo-men pwease?"

Well, that wasn't the least bit helpful. Everyone decided to just relax next to the campfire for a few minutes before going to sleep. InuYasha was up in a tree, while Kagome sat underneath, finishing up on her homework she had diligently been working on. Shippo was happily chattering to Random, obviously glad to have some kids more his age around. Sango happily watched the content group, before polishing her large weapon, not noticing a certain monk slowly making his way closer to where she sat. Until with a surprised jump, she suddenly had crystal-clear clarity as to where the monk was. Or more specifically his cursed hand.

"HENTAI!"

Random looked over and sighed, while Tsoki nearly died laughing after looking at the near unconscious monk on the ground, but Krystal took a different approach.

She innocently watched the scene, a look of deep concentration on her face, before voicing her question.

"Why did the lady hit the funny man?"

Everyone froze, looking at the youngest one of the group, before Tsoki and InuYasha burst out laughing.

"Um...well, you see..."

"I did that because...uh..."

"Uh, Lady Sango...uh..."

"Miroku sometimes, no all the time, no..."

"It's just...um..."

"I SLAPPED HIM BECAUSE HE WAS BEING A LECHOROUS MONK!" Sango finally screamed, not doing a good job of explaining what had happened.

"Leechoreous..." the three-year old fox hanyou rolled the word on her tongue for a bit before going to the base of InuYasha's tree and yelling up…

"DADDY! WHAT DOES LECHEROUS MEAN!"

* * *

And that's Chapter 3. Please review!

Nothing much to add here, except see you next time! =)


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